Greed and Avarice
by Bob Regent
Summary: What would it take to save the world... less than you'd think.


_**Greed and Avarice **_

Author: Silent Bob Foley/Ash's Boomstick  
Feedback: As much as can be given.  
Distribution: and Xzone.  
Rating: Nothing worse than on the shows, except maybe language.

Disclaimer: The characters belong to the crack-head moron.

_**Watcher's Council Library and Archive**_

_**Subdimension**__**Three**_

_**Scotland**_

"What you looking at?"

"Remember the Gem of Amara?"

"Yeah, that ring that stops vampires going kablooie?"

"Well I was thinking what if there were others out there, stuff the demons want more than anything. Other rings, necklaces, weapons, something they would give anything to get their hands on. Turns out there is."

Buffy looks over his shoulder at the huge tome that Xander had been reading, the page he was reading was some kind of gold circlet like the crowns she saw in a Shakespeare film once. She read the top describing the pretty looking headpiece, "The Crown of Presence?"

"It's like a really big version of Drusilla's whammy, it says any vampire that wears it can command anything in a certain area no matter what they are. Same guy who made the Gem of Amara made this one as well."

"Where is it?"

"Vampire legend said it was taken from the last wearer by someone immune to the use of the crown, said person had to kill the slayer, six watchers and a hundred other people before dusting the vamp that had it."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, the Crown was thrown into the deepest hole that could be found and covered with rocks, dirt and anything else they could find to hide it."

"So where is it now?"

"Sitting down on the vault being depowered by the coven."

"So what you looking stuff up for?"

"An idea."

"An idea?"

"Yeah, Giles agreed with me in theory but this should be easy enough to do. There's enough allies on the payroll to get the story out."

"What idea?"

"Let me ask you something." Xander leant back in his chair "Back in your Queen Buffy days at Hemery if someone told you that there was a signed copy of a letter from someone like Brad Pitt or Luke Perry that said they would be your slave forever what would you have done to get it?"

"Before or after being a slayer?"

"Before."

"Anything I had to, rip apart anyone who got in my way... I get it."

"Yeah, what do you think?"

"It's good, you gonna use this crown as the bait?"

"Nope."

"No?"

"No, I'm using this and four others. Once I figure out the five most wanted and if we have them or not then we're going to let the world know about the fact the five have been sighted in the hands of the five biggest and nastiest demons or enclaves on the planet and watch what happens."

_**Watcher's Council**_

_**Six months later.**_

"United States council report, eighty three percent reduction in demon and vampire numbers. Non violent and allied demons have reported combined arms assaults against at least two of the big five. Expected enemy losses at ninety eight percentile."

"Asia council reporting, ninety one percent reduction. China still has an integrated underworld, we won't get above thee ninety six percentile."

"Africa, seventy three percent. Same as Asia, estimated Eighty Five Percentile."

"Antarctica, one hundred percent threat loss."

"Europe, ninety five percent destruction of Demonic assets. Almost total removal from Western Europe, most remaining groups are sequestered in the battles in Russia and Poland. reports indicate that final losses will be in the Ninety Nine percentile range."

"South America, sixty seven percent loss of enemy forces. Estimated eighty two plus percentile."

"Australasia, Ninety eight percentile. One hundred within the next three days."

"Well Xander it seems that your theory was correct, the majority of the world will be free of demonic influence within the next week."

"Yeah, not bad for a So-Cal boy."

"Indeed."

"The majority of those we know that remain of will be contained or eradicated by our own people or allied combat forces we have assembled." Giles took of his glasses, "With this our job will be almost complete, I never believed it would be possible."

"Never underestimate the greed of a bastard."

"Yes quite, we'll need to continue to watch over the world. Stop the usual human arcane rituals, those vampires or demons that didn't know about the treasures as well as anything else that we may have missed. But with the slayers, covens and other associated groups the world is a safer place through this."

"Then I want to ask you a favour Giles."

"If I can."

"I want the council to retire the first slayers."

"Pardon me?"

"Buffy, Faith, Vi, Kennedy, Choa-An, anyone who was with us at Sunnydale or before are given the choice to leave the council and retire away from the fight wherever they want. I know the council will be able to afford it Giles, we could buy islands for every slayer and still have enough to one up the church."

"Which one?"

"All of them."

"Who else?"

"Willow if she wants to, any of the watchers and slayers that we found that first year that want to get out and you."

"I won't be leaving the Council Xander you know that."

"I thought you'd say that, was worth a try."

Giles looked at the ever changing numbers on the huge screens in Xander's operations room within the castle they were using as a headquarters, several more percentage points had climbed with the annihilation of the Witches Coven in Prague and everything attacking it. The single largest accumulation of demons in one place for decades had been wiped out by some last ditch defence the witches had against this kind of thing, the experiment could have gone either way but for once the fates had smiled on the council and it's people.

"I also gather you won't be going anywhere either."

"Someone needs to make sure that the rest of these people know how to fight."

"Yes of course."

"United States Ninety Nine Percent..."

_**Watcher's Council Retreat**_

_**Bermuda**_

_**Six months later.**_

Xander stared out at the shining blue sea in front of him, for months he had planned and watched over the annihilation of the majority of the demonic forces on the planet. Now after a year the council was close to a dead end, more than ninety six percent of all evil or threat forces had been annihilated by the fratricide that their greed had caused them. The remaining evil of the demonic kind were now kept under constant watch or being hunted as he sat on the beach, a thousand plus slayers and another ten thousand warriors, soldiers and support staff backed them up.

A year of constant planning and watching over his slayers had pushed him to the edge as he forced himself into twenty plus hour days, the operations room had seen it's leader deteriorate rapidly as he pushed himself beyond anything he should have been able to until one day he had been forced to abandon his position.

Literally.

All he remembered was a sharp pain in his neck then waking up feeling better than he had in a while laying on a lounger in the shade of a parasol, it seemed that the watchers had had places around the world that their people could retreat to in case of stress, anxiety or injury. Fortunately while he had had his head too far into his work to see the other side his assistants hadn't and had called in a favour from a retired slayer and a watcher, and now less than sixteen hours later he was sitting sipping a coke and watching the waves lap the shore.

He was shaking.

A slim slightly tanned hand lay itself against his forcing the shaking hand to stop before she grasped it and sat beside him.

"I should be with them, the battle isn't over."

"It is for now, there's not enough of them left to rally against us anymore. The last of the big covens are gone, more than three quarters of the planet is one hundred percent clear as far as we can tell. You've done more than enough for now Xander." She laid her head against his shoulder, he wrapped his arm around her softly. "Annabelle and Diana called me and said that we needed to get you out of there, you were in a state when we got to you. I've never seen you like that."

"Someone had to, after I asked Giles to let you all retire I knew I'd be the last one capable of running everything."

"Not alone Xan, you had help."

"They're my girls, I had to keep them safe."

"By killing yourself in the process?"

"If i had to."

Xander flinched as a hand slapped him across the head at that remark, "No chance, you wouldn't let me die no matter what happened would you?"

"No." he scowled, "What the hell Buffy?"

"You didn't let any of us die if you could help it, what makes you think we would?"

"I... I didn't think it mattered as much."

Buffy's eyes started to well, "Don't you ever say something like that again, you made the fact that most of the council can retire soon a reality. Even if you won't do so, you are responsible for this. You saved the world."

Xander just sighed and nodded.

"Besides." Buffy smirked, "There's an upside to being the hero of the hour."

Xander's eyes widened as her tone finally registered and simply followed as she pulled him up and dragged him away from the beachfront, maybe she was right that he had been able to change the world for the better for its inhabitants.

And maybe now he could allow his own to change with them.


End file.
